Thursday, 22 July 2010

I'm talking at JavaOne 2010 on the subject of the "Next Big JVM language" (S314355).
I suspect that it might cause some controversey!

Talk

Before writing the talk, I wanted to get some feedback from the community.
So, I've got some basic topics and questions I'm looking for feedback on.

1) What makes a language big and popular?
Lots of people have drawn up lists - Steve Yegge has one (take a look!).
But what criteria do you believe make a language big and popular?
Static or dynamic? Fast or just fast enough? Lots of features or few? Simple or complex? Does syntax matter? etc. etc.

2) What might be different between a big JVM language and a big language in general (without the JVM restriction)?
Dot NET has several new languages, but they can't be considered.
However, if you've seen an interesting idea then thats interesting here.

3) Is it important to reuse existing Java libraries?
Java has a big ecosystem. How important is reusing all those libraries.
Or would a fresh start with a new higher quality (less cruft) core library be preferred.

4) What languages should I consider?
I've got Groovy, Scala, Fantom and Clojure on the list, but what else?
I'd love to see blog posts by language authors tackling the question of why their language matches the session title.

5) If its none of the above, why not? What are you looking for?
While a random wish list of features is interesting, remember that this is about the next big JVM language.
Does your idea fit that?

6) Can Java reinvent itself?
What about java itself - could a reinvigorated Java retain its crown.

Summary

Feedback is definitely wanted, by comment, email or new blog posts.
Its a broad topic, but the more feedback the better (or more controversial) the talk will be!
(And I'll be starting writing this weekend...)